Not such a plum role ... Leonardo DiCaprio in the 90s drama Don’s Plum.

Don’s Plum, the low-budget 90s indie drama starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire that appeared online last month, has disappeared once more into the Hollywood ether after its stars took action to have it removed from the web.

Their move – a copyright complaint to Vimeo – parallels events in 1999 that also removed the film, at least partially, from view. Concerned that the black and white improvisational feature, tagged “not for public consumption”, might damage their reputations, DiCaprio and Maguire – who was then soon to star in the movie version of Spider-Man – were involved in legal action against the makers. They claimed they regarded Don’s Plum as the equivalent of an acting workshop and had never intended to make a full-length feature for theatrical release.

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In a settlement, it was ruled that the film – which captured the youthful LA tomfoolery of a loose assortment of up-and-coming actors once tagged by New York Magazine as the “Pussy Posse” – could never be sold or exhibited in either the US or Canada, though it later debuted at the Berlin film festival in 2001. Time Out New York critic Mike D’Angelo called it “the best film in Berlin” and compared co-director RD Robb’s work favourably to Larry Clark’s Kids, which launched the careers of Chloë Sevigny and Rosario Dawson, though Variety labelled the drama’s characters an “unpleasant and tedious ensemble”.

“It breaks my heart to inform you that Leonardo DiCaprio has once again blocked […] audiences from enjoying Don’s Plum,” revealed writer-producer Dale Wheatley, who had uploaded the film for free to his website. “It’s a sad commentary that in 2016 we witness the suppression of film and art by one of America’s most beloved actors. If only DiCaprio would follow in the footsteps of the director who admires and works with more than any other, Martin Scorsese, and preserve American cinema rather than suppress it. I will appeal Vimeo’s decision to overlook my fair use copyright as an author of the material.”

Don’s Plum was filmed in 1995 and 1996 by first time directors RD Robb and John Schindler, and also features Kevin Connolly, best known for the TV series and film Entourage. An ensemble drama about angst-ridden twentysomethings who congregate around a Hollywood diner, it was shot for $100,000 (£68,590) in the days before the actors were famous.

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In an open letter to DiCaprio on his website to accompany its unauthorised online debut last month, Wheatley continued to deny the film-makers ever misled their cast members.

“I hope it’s becoming clear to you that it is absolute nonsense to characterise us as a bunch of evil film-makers who fiendishly tried to turn a short piece of art into a longer piece of art,” he wrote. “The film certainly evolved and we all evolved along with it.”

Don’s Plum had appeared online with DiCaprio currently experiencing a new career high, thanks to his acclaimed turn in Alejandro González Iñárritu’s harrowing western The Revenant. The 41-year-old actor is the bookmaker’s runaway favourite to take the best actor prize at next month’s Oscars, following his fifth nomination for an acting Academy Award.